Woman Accidentally Poisons Her Whole Family With Wild Mushrooms
In case you needed another reason to avoid mushrooms, here's the sad case of a Connecticut woman who inadvertently poisoned her whole family with the vegetable, the world's worst. Shah Noor decided it would be a nice idea to make a dish with mushrooms she picked in her backyard. She mixed them with garlic, onions and green chili peppers, and cooked them for her husband and two daughters.
Connecticut Now reports everyone "agreed it was a tasty meal." That is, until they all almost died.
Several hours after finishing their fungus feast, Noor's husband and younger daughter both complained of intense stomach pains. They went to the hospital, where a quick thinking doctor encouraged the husband to call home to check on the rest of the fam.
Needless to say, things at home weren't so great.
"When I called, I heard this hue and cry," he said. His wife was vomiting and his other daughter, Wafa Guloona, 24, was on the floor holding her stomach. Guloona managed to drive herself and her mother to the hospital, stopping twice to throw up.
Nevermind that I just learned what "hue and cry" means: what a terrible scene. After asking what they'd eaten recently, the doctors diagnosed the mushrooms as the culprit. Apparently, this particular strand, called Amanita bisporigera, is also known as the "destroying angel" and can, in some cases, cause death.
Everyone has been released from the hospital, except the older daughter, who doctors expect will go home this week.
As for wild mushrooms, you should probably just leave those alone, according to a mushroom scientist.
"Expert mushroom hunters and even mycologists make mistakes because they fall back on assumptions and make mistakes in identification," he said. "Stories are legion of famous mycologists who have succumbed because they make little mistakes in identification."
Psychedelic mushrooms are still okay, though.
